Finding purpose in retirement

There’s a good Ted Talk about finding purpose in retirement by Dr Riley Moynes.  He identifies four phases of retirement. These he describes as:- 

Phase 1 -‘Vacation’; when retirement feels like being on holiday; this will last for about a year. 

Phase 2  - ‘Loss’; we lose routine, identity, a senses of purpose, and for some, we lose power.

Phase 3 -‘ Trial and error’;  we ask ourselves, how can I make life meaningful again? How can I contribute? The answer is to try things, some may not work but some probably will; and the key to success is to do the things you enjoy doing and do well. 

Phase 4 -‘Reinvent’; at this point you could slip back into phase 2, so you need to ask some tough questions, eg what’s my purpose here? What’s my mission? How do I squeeze the most juice out of retirement? 

You can find the talk here:- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMHMOQ_054U&t=224s 

Dr Moynes has also written a book entitled ‘The Four Phases of Retirement’, in which he describes his own personal experiences of retirement. You can get it on Kindle here:- 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Phases-Retirement-Expect-Retiring-ebook/dp/B01CEVSKGI 

Have you been going through the various phases of retirement? Or are you thinking about what to do when you retire? Feel free to share your experiences here.